As the Parallels Diverge
by LoLoGreeneVines
Summary: Severus Snape and Uryu Ishida reflect on Lily Evans and Orihime Inoue respectively. A short experimental analysis on the similarities and differences in the relationships between them.


The boy stared up from his heavy textbook and looked out across the courtyard, peering through two curtains of black hair as he watched the world go by.

Sweeping his gaze over a group of giggling girls standing in a corner, the boy's eyes widened slightly as he recognised a shimmering mane of auburn hair gleaming in the light of the sun. He watched intently as the girl laughed at something one of her friends had said.

_No. Mine._

The thought came unbidden into his mind, and the boy scowled slightly. As much as he loved to watch the girl laughing, the very thought of somebody other than him being the one to draw such a lovely smile from the girl's facial muscles irked him. He watched on, longingly, as the girl stretched out her arms and cheerfully hugged one of the other girls.

Something in the boy silently snapped.

_No. that's my person. Get your own._

The boy brushed his dark hair out of his eyes and forced his eyes back down to the textbook in his lap, doing his utmost to block out the sight of the girl chatting animatedly with _other people_.

Suddenly, though, he heard a small cry of happiness and looked up to see the girl practically flying towards him, arms outstretched.

The boy accepted her hug, and gave a slightly smug smile as she sat down on the ground next to him and began chattering about nothing in particular. It always brought a certain joy to him when she willingly abandoned her other friends to spend time with him; it was nice to know that there was somebody on the planet who actually thought he was worth spending time with. He didn't get much attention other than from her. Most people were just scared of his admittedly off-putting personality.

He had no idea where the girl's other friends had melted off to, and by this point he really didn't care, because as far as he was concerned at this moment she was the only thing besides him in the entire universe.

Smiling slightly at the enormous grin on the girl's face as she nattered about magic, the boy reflected on how this extraordinary girl was always unfailingly cheerful. Even when their less-savoury classmates made unkind remarks about her, she just brushed it off with a smile. _Of course_, the boy thought, _that could just be because she is just too nice realise she's being insulted_.

That was another thing about the girl; she always looked for the best in everyone. _After all_, the boy reasoned, _there's no way she would give me the time of day otherwise._

The girl was extremely clever, too. Even now, just listening to her chattering away about how well she had done in one of her lessons yesterday, the boy was struck by just how knowledgeable she was, and how impressive her achievements actually were. When she mentioned the fact that only two other people in her class had achieved whatever the objective of the lesson was, the boy swelled with pride for his best friend.

Then, the girl fell silent, and looking up the boy saw his arch-rival walking into view.

The boy listened angrily as the other boy tossed insults at him left, right and centre. Just as he was about to respond, the girl retorted angrily.

_Leave him alone. What did he ever do to you? Why are you always so horrible to the poor guy?_

The boy stared down at his book, by now so familiar with his friend's outbursts defending him he could completely tune them out and still be completely aware of what she was saying. Soon enough, he would interrupt the girl to throw a spectacularly snarky quip at the detestable boy standing over him, and then the girl would look at him reproachfully and say something along the lines of _you really didn't have to stoop to his level_. That was the way it always went.

Sure enough, the ritual scenario soon played itself out and the other boy took his leave, the girl's bright, round eyes following him until he had disappeared from sight. The boy liked to convince himself that the girl was only watching his rival in case he returned with another dose of malice, but the boy was secretly terrified that he would one day lose the girl to this bully. The girl may disapprove of the two boys fighting, and take his side in an argument, but the boy was certain he wasn't imagining the slight look of sadness in her normally-brilliant eyes whenever he threw his own abuse at his rival.

The boy invented an excuse, packed his textbook back into his bag and gave a small smile and a wave to the girl, his eyes lingering on her dazzling smile for as long as they reasonably could before he turned and walked away.

_No. I will never be good enough for her._

Even many years later, as he was dying, he would picture the girl's beautiful face, reflecting on the fact that he had lost the girl because she genuinely was far too good for him. As the mental image of her visage he had conjured faded to black, he mourned for all he had lost, simply because his personality was far too broken and jealous to ever stand a chance of winning over the pristine wholeness of the girl.

* * *

The boy stared up from his heavy textbook and looked out across the courtyard, peering through two curtains of black hair as he watched the world go by.

Sweeping his gaze over a group of giggling girls standing in a corner, the boy's eyes widened slightly as he recognised a shimmering mane of auburn hair gleaming in the light of the sun. He watched intently as the girl laughed at something one of her friends had said.

_What a beautiful smile._

The thought came unbidden into his mind, and the boy smiled slightly behind his book. The boy always loved to watch the girl laughing, and he was grateful to her friends for coaxing such a lovely smile from the girl's facial muscles. He watched on, longingly, as the girl stretched out her arms and cheerfully hugged one of the other girls.

The boy raised an eyebrow.

_Careful. Don't let them take advantage of you._

The boy brushed his dark hair out of his eyes and forced his eyes back down to the textbook in his lap, his eyes occasionally flickering back up to his friend.

Suddenly, though, he heard a small cry of happiness and looked up to see the girl practically flying towards him, arms outstretched.

The boy awkwardly accepted her hug, giving a small, self-conscious cough as she sat down on the ground next to him and began chattering about nothing in particular. It always brought a certain joy to him when she willingly decided to spend time with him, although he was certain there were many people who were far better company than he; it was nice to know that there was somebody on the planet who actually thought he was worth spending time with. He didn't get much attention other than from her. Most people were just too afraid of his admittedly off-putting personality.

He had no idea where the girl's other friends had melted off to, and by this point he really didn't care, because as far as he was concerned at this moment she was the only thing besides him in the entire universe.

Smiling slightly at the enormous grin on the girl's face as she nattered about magic, the boy reflected on how this extraordinary girl was always unfailingly cheerful. Even when the less-savoury classmates made lewd remarks about her, she just brushed it off with a smile. _Of course_, the boy thought, _that could just be because she is just too nice realise they're actually being rather offensive_.

That was another thing about the girl; she always looked for the best in everyone. _After all_, the boy reasoned, _there's no way she would give me the time of day otherwise._

The girl was extremely clever, too. Even now, just listening to her chattering away about how well she had done in one of her lessons yesterday, the boy was struck by just how knowledgeable she was, and how impressive her achievements actually were. When she mentioned the fact that only two other people in her class had achieved whatever the objective of the lesson was, the boy swelled with pride for his friend.

Then, the girl fell silent, and looking up the boy saw his enemy forward-slash best friend (although he wouldn't be admitting to that out loud) walking into view.

The boy listened wearily as the other boy tossed insults at him left, right and centre. Just as he was about to respond, the girl knitted her eyebrows together and turned her enormous eyes on them both, reproachfully.

_Honestly, you two are always so perfectly horrid to each other. Can't you just say something nice about each other for once?_

The boy stared down at his book, by now so familiar with the girl's insistence he could completely tune her out and still be completely aware of what she was saying. Soon enough, he would interrupt the girl to throw a spectacularly snarky quip at the boy standing over him, and then the girl would give a giggle and say something embarrassing about the fact that the two were really best friends, and the two boys would vehemently deny it but internally be grateful that somebody understood their fundamental need to snark at each other whenever they happened to be in the same room. That was the way it always went.

Sure enough, the ritual scenario soon played itself out and the other boy took his leave, the girl's bright, round eyes following him until he had disappeared from sight. The boy liked to convince himself that the girl was only watching his rival in case he returned, but the boy was secretly terrified that he had already lost the girl to the other boy. As hard as he tried to ignore it, it was always there in the way the girl stared wistfully at the other boy across the classroom, when his own gaze was on her, and although he knew she understood the complex relationship he had with the other boy, she couldn't quite disguise the way her usually-bright eyes dimmed slightly when he threw an insult at his rival.

The boy suspected that, if questioned correctly, the girl would probably admit to being in love with the other boy. She could even claim to love him in four other lives, but the boy somehow knew that this would be a lie, whatever the girl made of her own feelings. It's the sort of thing she would say, but it didn't quite ring true.

The boy invented an excuse, packed his textbook back into his bag and gave a small smile and a wave to the girl, his eyes lingering on her dazzling smile for as long as they reasonably could before he turned and walked away.

However, before he could get very far, the girl caught up with him, her bright eyes gleaming, and stood right in front of him, preventing him from moving any further.

Somehow, the boy felt as though he had been given a second chance, this time with the odds stacked in his favour, and he silently promised himself (and the girl) that he would not make such a mess of it again.

* * *

**Author's notes: Just a short experiment. Uryu and Orihime always kind of reminded me of Snape and Lily, if Snape hadn't been a complete git. I hope that I've done an adequate job of getting across exactly what I was trying to, here. Please let me know what you think. :)**


End file.
